


When Law is Lawless

by Author404



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: 1890s, Alternate Universe - Western, Dreams and Nightmares, Gangs, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Supernatural Elements, negan has a dog
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-01-25 14:50:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18576700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Author404/pseuds/Author404
Summary: Rick has rather troubling dream experiences.Negan has a bit of a crush.(title from the Gorillaz song Clint Eastwood [the cowboy actor guy])





	1. Not At All

**Author's Note:**

> WOh, boy, here we fucking go. This is planned(?) trust me. 
> 
> I took my shot at a multichaptered fic. Let's hope this goes well. 
> 
> Ask me questions! Share ideas! Tell me dumb shit, i dont know! - @author-404 on tumblr 
> 
> Let's go.

“Rick!” 

 

He turned around but didn’t see anything. 

 

“RICK!” It was a female voice, then a male one. His horse was here too, wherever “here” was. It was like the town. But… Different. Mist coated everything in a thick blanket. He could barely see through it, let alone make out a dusty blond figure. Mary nickered from afar. He tried to move his legs through the sea of mist. 

 

“Rick…” The girl was back again. She sounded sad this time. What was wrong? What was happening? Where was Mary? But Rick soon heard a soft neigh to his left. His horse came barreling into view. 

 

“Mmm.” Who was that? Another man, but it was more rumbly from the one before. 

 

“Dad!” 

 

Rick blinked and stared up at the hot Texas sky pouring it’s scorching light down on him. He sat up, the people around him spreading out for him. “Carl?” A light body collided with his. Rick grunted and returned his son’s bear-hug. 

 

“Holy shit, Dad, you had me scared for a second there.” Carl spoke into Rick’s curly hair. Rick sighed. He  _ told  _ Carl he couldn’t swear until he was 16. Enid was a bad influence on him… But Rick held in his complaints about Carl’s vocabulary and slowly let go of the boy. Rick got off of the sandy, dirt ground and rubbed his neck. 

 

“What happened?” The local farmer was by his side with her husband soon next to her. He reassured all the other folks he was fine. 

 

“Dumbass!” Glenn’s lack of filter never failed to amuse Rick. His wife shoved his arm and hissed something about ‘not in front of the kids’ 

 

“Rick, that horse of yours flung you off, right into the mud!”

 

“Where is she now? Did a snake come and scare her off?” Maggie shook her head and laughed. “What?” He noticed the mud and grime covering his clothes. Oh gross… “Oh.” 

 

“No, Rick, it’s not that.” She took his hand and tugged it a bit. Rick looked back. Carl was already running around a corner, Enid in toll. Kids meant well but they weren’t very reliable for stayin’ in one place. He followed Maggie through town, his hand on hers. They stopped in front of the doctor’s office. She smiled a soft smile and let go of his hand, letting it fall back. “Sometimes you don’t think ‘nough about yourself. Now, go, c’mon.” 

 

Rick waved his goodbyes and pushed both halves of the door apart, stepping inside. Denise was scribbling out a form at her desk. “Hey.” She stopped and looked up at him. 

 

“Hey, Sheriff. Heard your horse tried to kill you again.” She got out of the leather armchair and pointed at him. “You should arrest it for it’s crimes.” There was a second of silence the she laughed and dropped her hand down. Rick laughed with her. “Can you really never tell when I’m joking, or not?” He followed her into the examination room and sat down. 

 

“I can never tell when you’re  _ not  _ joking, Denise.” She pulled gloves on and pushed the door shut. 

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 

 

Negan groaned and flopped backwards on the bed.  _ Jesus christ…  _ He needed to meet this guy. Rick, his name was… He was driving him crazy.  _ Spying on some hot guy's dreams isn’t flirting, Negan.  _ He wasn’t nosy, it was his duty, basically. He wasn’t nosy. 

 

Not at all. 

 

Negan pushed himself out of bed reluctantly. He yawned and shuffled to the kitchen, fixing himself a cup of bitter coffee. It was beginning to get dark.  _ Nice. More “sleep”. _ Watching the townsfolk dreams was entertaining for the most part. But Rick… Rick was  _ very  _ interesting. Negan was broken out of his thoughts by a snort. Luna shook out her fur and got up, nuzzling up to his leg. “Hey girl.” 

 

She barked, piercing through what remained of his drowsiness. He rubbed his ears. “Not so loud, Luna.” She sat down and pawed at his legs, whining for food. “Luna, you had dinner already. Everytime I get up doesn’t mean food.” The puppy circled him. “Luna, I can't-” He sighed. The coffee still had time. 

 

The dog frantically pawed the ground, her nails clacking on the hardwood floor. Negan plopped cold, leftover steak in Luna’s bowel and sat back down, watching her scarf it down. 

 

There was a knock at the door the same time as the coffee started going off. “Ugh, what the hell.” He turned the oven off first then started toward the door. There was a man at the door, Negan catching sight of him through the small window. It was higher up so he only caught a glimpse of his hat. A sheriff? The hell are they doing at his door? What did that prick Philip blame him for now… He ran a hand over his face and opened the door.Or maybe it was something with the Saviors. Had they been caught? Had someone snitched? 

 

“Uh, Mr… East...On?” His dark eyes widened at the sight at his door. “Deputy Rick Grimes, I’m here for a surprise inspection.” Negan forced the dumbfounded look off his face and smiled, opening the door wider. 

 

“Of course. Come right in.” He turned back around. “Oh! And it’s Easton.” Negan cocked his smirk back up. “Short vowels.” 


	2. Vines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprise inspection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey y'all. sorry for not updating for a while. i did enjoy writing this though! next chapter will hopefully be up sooner!

Rick first came up about a month ago. Negan was in the middle of hunting when he was pulled from reality. 

 

“Luna, stand still, you don’t want to scare the damn thing off.” He tightened his grip on the gun. The deer was moving between trees swiftly. But his (untrained) hunting dog was sniffing the maples and the poppies. “ _ Luna _ -” He heaved a sigh and gave up.  _ Puppies…  _ Negan had rescued her when she had just shown up at his door during a storm a couple of weeks ago. He was trying to teach her how to help him but she was a much better lap dog. 

 

The deer was in his sights again. He squeezed his left eye shut and breathed. It was just Negan, his gun, and his deer. He breathed out steadily and pulled the trigger. 

 

And then it went away. Negan wasn't holding his rifle anymore and groaned. He was standing in a patch of mist. “You're shitting me right now?” No one answered. “I have shit to do! Can the godsdamn people in this town stop fucking  _ dying _ ?  _ C’mon… _ ” As Negan had his powers, he figured he wasn’t the only one out there. Whatever he was… A voice pierced through the fog. 

 

“Carl!!” The fuck… Which dumbass fell off his horse this time? Negan put his arms down and moved toward the voice. “Carl!” Who's Carl? Ah, whatever. There was a medium sized figure wading through the mist.

 

“Hey prick, what happened?” Negan sat down on something solid. “You fall off your horse?” 

 

The man whipped around. He couldn't see Negan, probably couldn't hear him. It was worth a shot. “Hello?! Who's there?” Oh, he could hear him. But the poor guy was standing right there and still couldn't make out Negan's face. But shit… Negan sure could make out  _ his  _ face. Fuck, the guy was so pretty, it wasn't  _ fair.  _ His blue eyes fucking sparkled.

 

The man kept looking around. “Calm down, mister.” Negan got off of his perch and circled him. Everything from his bow legs to those magical eyes was beautiful. “What happened?” 

 

“Who's there?” 

 

“Sit down.” The man hesitated before he half near collapsed on a surface. The mist covered everything. Even Negan didn't know where anything was. “What's your name?” 

 

He gulped and took a deep breath. “Rick.” 

 

“Ok, honey, what happened?” Negan couldn't resist the nickname. 

 

He was confused. “I- I don't know. But Carl… I told him not to play over near the stables. I don't know.” Negan could work with that. Rick began fading a bit. 

 

“Well shit, peaches, I'm afraid our time is almost up.” The man still couldn't see him. Then he disappeared, alive and well. And Negan returned to Luna licking his hand, the gun on the moss covered ground. 

 

He picked it up and slung it over his shoulder by the strap and sighed. “Better luck next time.” 

 

After that, Negan checked on people's dreams more often, wanting to get anything on Rick… His dreams were normal, some nightmares in there. But the man did come close to death every once in a while. Negan would meet him, have the standard “you’re dead” talk, and be distracted for the rest of the day. Distracted was rather an understatement… 

 

“Mr. Easton?” Rick’s accent brought him back to Earth. “Do you mind if I have a look around?” He was clutching a notebook with a pencil tucked behind his ear. Negan was flipping his shit. For multiple, overwhelming reasons. A surprise inspection? The fuck, why? Why didn’t Rick have anyone with him, deputies had partners. Was this official? Was this personal? And Rick was  _ here,  _ at his door. The guy he’d been embarrassedly fantasizing about for a month was suspiciously lurking around for “important cop business”. 

 

“Go right ahead, officer.” Rick politely smiled and Negan tried to keep his breathing normal. Rick stepped through the door and gazed around his small cottage. Luna was already passed on the wooden floor, snoring away.  He rolled his eyes and leaned against the doorway, trying to look relaxed. “So… Surprise inspection, huh?” Rick peered around Negan’s living room, bending over to look at furnisher. It took all Negan had not to stare at his ass. 

 

“Yeah, it’s mandatory. Not really a “surprise” but most people don’t know, so,” Rick scratched the back of his neck and chuckled nervously. “The whole department is out, don’t worry.” Negan noticed that his eyebrows were furrowed, in focus or in irritation, he didn’t know what he wanted Rick to think. So he softened his expression, turning to the kitchen. 

 

“You want any coffee? I still have some left.” Rick blinked and tucked the notepad into his pocket. 

 

“That would be lovely.” Negan swallowed and poured bitter coffee into a clean mug for him. Rick took it with a, “Thank you.” Negan gestured for him to sit down, plopping down in his own chair. They sat in silence, Rick sipping his coffee. 

 

“So,” Negan scratched the armchair a bit with his nails. “How’s the police after all the gang business lately?” He resisted the urge to snort. He knew how the police were doing after he had come into town half a year ago. They had come and raided houses and buildings. They called themselves the ‘Saviors’. Negan had arrived in town separately. He had to have a low profile for this to work out. The last town they went to wasn’t very cooperative. 

 

Rick sighed. He looked exhausted. The man accidentally fell off his horse this afternoon. Negan had encountered him in the strange fog land again. “Well, it’s not good.” He chuckled, trying to hide his fatigue. “People are scared, with them popping up all over.” Negan had had the Saviors show up in people’s homes and just leave again. From Rick’s words, it had proved to be a pretty good scare tactic. 

 

“Honestly, Negan, I don’t really know what to do about them. We don’t even know who the leader is yet.” And he would continue to not know. “But Michonne did capture one of them.” Negan had to force himself not to rip off the chair’s fabric. What. The. Fuck. Who was it? Simon? No one had seen him in a while. Gods, that  _ idiot.  _ “But he still won’t talk.” He better not fucking talk. Negan tried to sound more curious than fuming. 

 

“Really?” It sounded as forced as it was. He tried to relax. “How’d you find him?” 

 

If Rick caught on to his anger, he didn’t show it. “Well, my partner, Michonne, caught him trying to sneak around in her house.” _Damnit, Simon._ _Stop fucking with cops._ “And now he’s at the sheriff’s.” Negan didn’t know the sheriff well. He didn’t know _anyone_ well but Rick (but he still didn’t know much about him, anyway) “We can’t get a word out of him.” At least Simon wouldn’t talk, even though he knew Negan would kick his ass later.

 

“Maybe I could talk to him.” Rick cocked his head.

 

“Why?”

 

Oh shit. Talking to Simon could possibly go horribly, with him giving away everything. Or he could discreetly let him know what was gonna happen. And help Rick along the way. It’s not like Simon wasn’t going to  _ mysteriously escape  _ a couple of days later. “Well, I’m bored up here, with only Luna here to keep company.” The dog shifted and blinked awake. She yawned and trotted over to Negan, resting her chin on his leg. “And plus,” He scratched her ears. “Y’all sound like you need some help.” Sheriff’s offices never had enough people there. Rick looked like he was considering it. 

 

“I… don’t know. I would have to ask Andrea…” Was she the sheriff? “But we could use the help,” Rick smiled as Luna clacked over to him, rubbing his thigh with her head. He put down the coffee cup and stroked her soft fur. “Thank you, Negan.” Gods, he was so polite. Rick was much better in person. “For the tea, and the offer, I’ll run it by Andrea tonight.” Negan walked him to the door. He waved the man goodbye, watching him ride off on his horse. Once the door was shut, he groaned and slid to the floor. 

 

“Simon, what the  _ fuck _ .” Luna curled up to him by the door. If he talked, it was all over. And he  _ did  _ genuinely want to help Rick. The man looked like he hadn’t slept for weeks. His dreams were increasingly disturbing, the latest one being in a pitch black forest. There were a woman and a baby. Vines were swallowing them whole. And Rick had only managed to save the kid. And his dream ended. It left Negan too shaken up to go back to ‘sleep’. And then he wondered how Rick must feel. Negan didn’t get much sleep lately. With vines encompassing his own mind. 

 

Negan got off of the floor and slung the hunting rifle he had over his shoulder. He whistled. “Luna!” She followed him into the forest. Negan couldn’t stop the shudder when he saw the ivy eating away at a smooth piece of rock. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tumblr is @author-404 
> 
> subscribe, comment, kudos!
> 
> \- faye
> 
> PS I just realized that with two chapters, this story is the same amount of words as Unsuspecting. asdfghjkljd i didn't plan this


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